A personal "behind the scenes" insight from the perspectives of CEO-wife and COO-husband power team into what its like to be a family owned and operated small business called EBSCO Spring Company. www.ebscospring.com

The Real Story

This week’s Blog was planned a month ago. The team completed their first Kaizen event last week. My Blog was going to cover the outstanding job they did. With my positive attitude and the team we have I KNEW I would want to brag about their results.

I wasn’t disappointed!

Brian Karp from C. I. Solutions was there as our facilitator. Brian did an outstanding job! Thank You Brian. He started from the beginning, teaching the team Lean basics and the eight wastes. He presented a tool box of techniques for them to use and then let them go. He guided them through the process all the way. It all started with a blank wall in the conference room.

The team headed out to the shop floor where it all happens, Gemba. They talked to other coilers. They watched an experienced coiler do a set up on the machine. Hours of watching, asking questions and listening.

They followed the path deeper and deeper into the heart of the machine and the heart of the set up. They listened to the entire coil team for ideas. They marked gears and cams. They sorted through the process from start to finish.

The empty wall filled up quickly. They filled in every detail of the process and analyzed where it could be. They identified waste and came up with a plan. Not a plan for perfection but a plan for a start. They understood that this was not the final answer and what they presented was just the begining.

A successful Kaizen? By very definition it was. None had ever done a Kaizen event before and they hit it out of the park. The entire Ebsco team contributed, the Kaizen team produced amazing results and Brian led us through the entire week.

The funny thing is, what really struck me at the wrap up presentation. It wasn’t the great results and the time it was going to save us. It wasn’t the cost reduction on shorter set up times. It wasn’t their quick grasp of the Kaizen process and acceptance of Lean.

Maybe from my position I was doing a root cause analysis from ten miles up. Maybe I saw why Ebsco has been and will be so successful. I saw something completely different stand out. I saw the picture at the start of this blog.

I saw an outstanding group of people Having FUN! Having Fun, Passion for their job. Nothing else happens without that. That’s why I’m so confident about Ebsco’s future. That’s why I’m so exited about upcoming Kaizen events. That’s why I love working at Ebsco.